Carrying On
by echoechoecho
Summary: The bohemians are carrying on with their lives, raising the second generation. Pairings : Roger/Mimi, Mo/Jo and Mark/Abi OC. Please R&R.
1. Spilts and Shoes

**So, a story about what happened after RENT. Please read and review. I have deleted my story Emotion, Devotion to Causing a Commotion now because I didn't like it without Roger. **

**Little intro:**

**Collins never got together with anyone else after Angel, and passed on a few months after Mimi recovered from that Christmas. Mark married a girl named Abigail, and they had a son, Tom, 11. Maureen and Joanne had another engagement ceremony, and after months of trying with the hospital lab and IVF, they had a two daughters, Mia, 7 and Ruby, 9. Roger and Mimi got married, and first had a son, Ryan, 10, and then a daughter, Catalina, 5.**

**Chapter 1**

"Amelia Lola Jefferson-Johnson, get here right now!" Maureen screeched, giving a slight stamp of her foot.

Joanne popped her head round the door. "Mo, what's the matter?"

Maureen sat on the sofa with a huff. "Mia dropped her juice on the leather."

Joanne smiled. She had never imagined Maureen being so uptight about a piece of furniture. "Maureen, Mia's seven. She's still learning and making mistakes. Just get her in here, make her apologise and tell her not to let it happen again. Remember Ruby when she was her age?"

Maureen remembered, rather crossly. "Yes Joanne. Ruby crayoned lipstick over the walls in our bedroom."

"But did she ever do it again?"

Maureen frowned. "Well, no…but she did have a tantrum."

"Joanne persisted. "But did she ever crayon lipstick all over the walls again?"

Maureen sighed. "No."

Before Joanne could respond, an auburn head poked round the door. "Mommy?"

Joanne left the room, leaving Maureen to deal with Mia.

"Amelia. Come here please."

Mia crept forward, understanding that if Mommy used her full name it had to be bad.

"Now. Do you know what you did to make Mommy angry?"

Mia nodded mutely.

"I can't hear you Amelia."

Mia's lip trembled. "I spilts my juice on the couch."

"Yes Amelia. You did. Now, what do you say for making the couch very dirty?"

"I sorry Mommy. I not gonna spills my juice again."

Maureen smiled and gave Mia a hug.

"Okay baby. You can go play now."

Mia left the room, and Maureen sat back on the white leather, slowly picking at the orange stain.

**The Loft**

"Roger, where are Cat's shoes? Come on, we have to drop her at Maureen's."

"Mimi, Cat has at least four different pairs of shoes. How am I to know which ones you're talking about?"

Mimi glared crossly. "The pink ones with the butterflies."

Roger rolled his eyes. "I don't know Mimi. Ask Ryan."

Mimi was about to say something short and sharp when they heard a cry.

"Mommy! Ryan gots my shoes!"

Roger gave a small smirk and carried on watching the TV.

Mimi stalked towards Ryan's bedroom. After they had the kids, they moved into Mimi's old loft, leaving Mark, Abi and Tom living in the loft.

"Ryan Angelo Davis, giving your sister her shoes back NOW."

Ryan grinned, his dark eyes flashing, and held up a pair of shoes, dripping wet.

A small voice came from behind Mimi. "Mommy, my shoes wet."

Mimi turned, and a pair of green eyes looked reproachfully at her.

"I'm sorry honey. You're gonna have to wear a different pair of shoes to Aunty Maureen's. Why don't you go find the ones with the flowers on them?"

Cat nodded and trotted off.

"Ryan, why did you do that?" Mimi was exasperated with him. He was just so naughty.

"'Cause I wanted to." Ryan shook his head, his blonde hair bouncing.

"Right. That is IT, Ryan. Today, you will stay here with your father. You will not go out, and you are now not going to Jonathan's house. Do you hear me?"

"But Mo-" Ryan was cut off.

"Do you hear me?"

Ryan glared grumpily. "Fine."

Mimi walked off, and told Roger about what had happened.

"Come on Catalina. We have to go now."

"I coming Mommy."

Mimi walked out of the door, her daughter trailing behind her, waving to her father.

Soon enough, Mimi and her daughter had completed the short distance to Maureen and Joanne's apartment. She rang the bell, and Maureen answered.

"Hi Meems! Wow Cat, you look so grown up!"

Cat smiled a big grin. "Do you fink I look pwetty Aunty Jo?" She aimed the question at Joanne, who had joined Maureen at the door.

"You look beautiful honey. Now, say goodbye to Mommy, because Mommy has to go to work."

"Bye Mommy."

"Bye Cat. Be good for your Aunties."

"I wills Mommy. I pwomise."

As they shut the door, they heard a scream from the other side of the apartment.

**Little cliffhanger, so please 5 reviews for another chapter. Thanks,**

**Echo. **


	2. Bunk Beds and Brains

**Sorry I've been so long updating, but here it is, chapter 2.**

The scream echoed through the apartment like a gun shot. Maureen raced through the rooms, yelling her daughter's names as she ran. Joanne grabbed Catalina by the hand and followed.

"Mia! Ruby! Where are you?" Maureen had never felt so scared in her life.

"Mommy!"

As she heard the voice, Maureen whipped around.

"Mommy! Momma!" Ruby rushed out and collided with Maureen.

Maureen grabbed her by the shoulders. "Ruby, baby what's wrong?"

Ruby grasped for the right words, tears starting to stream down her cheeks.

"It's Mia Mommy. We was playing on the bunk beds and she felled….there was blood on her and I tried but she-"

Maureen cut Ruby off, running towards the bedroom as though she'd never stop.

"Mia! Mia!"

The sight that greeted Maureen as she entered the room was devastating.

Her youngest daughter lay motionless on the floor, blood slowly seeping out of a cut along her arm and her head. Bits of splintered wood from the bed lay scattered around.

"Mia!" Maureen rushed to her daughter's side, tripping over toys and wood.

Fuck. She couldn't remember anything she'd been taught about first aid. It was all a blank.

Joanne arrived at the bedroom and began to plug the bleeding, carefully lifting the arm off the floor, where a pool of blood stained the pink carpet, clashing horribly.

Maureen rushed for the phone and called an ambulance, hysterically crying.

Mia was lifted into the ambulance, Joanne going with her. Maureen stayed behind with Ruby and Catalina. They would follow in the car, and then call the rest of the family.

**The Loft**

"_SPEEAAKKK"_

"_Roger? Mark? Come on, I know one of you has to be there. Please pick up, there's been an accident…-"_

Maureen was immediately cut off.

"_Mo? What is it? Oh God, its not Cat is it?"_

"_No no, Roger Cat's fine. It's Mia, she fell off the bunk bed, please you have to get down here, we're in A&E."_

"_Hey, don't cry, I'll get Mark and Abi, call Mimi and be there as soon as I can."_

"_Oh thank you Roger, please hurry up!"_

Roger put down the phone and raced around the apartment, grabbing Ryan and yelling for Mark.

**Hospital**

Maureen and Joanne sat, cradled in each other's arms on the plastic seats. Too small to understand, Catalina was happily playing with Ruby in the toy area. Mimi and Abi were being comforted by their respective husbands. They were the only ones in the waiting room.

A tall doctor with a scary white coat entered the room. Everyone looked up.

"Immediate family of Amelia Johnson-Jefferson?"

Maureen and Joanne stood. "We're her parents."

"Okay, well, do you want to go somewhere or….-"

Maureen interrupted. "They're our family. Anything we hear they hear."

"Well then. Amelia is in a stable condition, the wound on her arm was superficial, but her arm is broken, and a CT scan will tell if the bump to the head sustained any damage."

Joanne's head snapped up. "Any damage? As in, brain damage?"

"Yes. With any bump to the head on a child, there is a chance of brain damage."

Maureen's lip quivered. "How much chance?"

"In Amelia's case, when she hit her head hard twice, about 90 chance of permanent brain damage."

**Not much of a cliffhanger but please review.**

**xx**


	3. Machines and Mistiness

**Thanks to the people who reviewed, and here's another update for you.**

Everyone sat in stunned silence. They were all thinking the same thing. It was a different, poor, unfortunate child whose test results the doctor held. Not Mia's. Not the little ray of sunshine. Not Angel's namesake. Mia Angel Hope Jefferson-Johnson. That's what she was. A hope. Nothing like this

could happen to her.

The doctor's gravely voice barked at them. "Any questions?"

Joanne spoke, trembling. "When can we see her?"

"Her parents can see her now. She will not be awake, but you can see her."

Maureen and Joanne stood up, and, taking each other's hands, followed the doctor into the

unknown.

Their shoes squeaked along the clinical corridors, the cloying smell of _hospital _clinging to them. A large black door lay ahead of them. Maureen gulped. Black. To Maureen, black signified loss and painful goodbyes. Black signified her past, something she had let go a long time ago.

The door opened.

Joanne's heart broke when she laid eyes on Mia. Tubes, wires and monitors clustered around the bed.

Mia looked so pale, almost as white as the sheets on the bed. A bloody cut ran over her forehead, red stitches standing out starkly, and her tiny arm ballooned in a clashing pink cast.

"Mia!" Maureen rushed forward. "I know you probably can't hear me baby, but its Mommy.

Mommy's here and she's never gonna let you go. I promise. When you get better, baby, Mommy and Momma are going to give you everything you want, and Mommy is never going to shout at you again. Promise."

"Mo, sit down. We'll just sit and talk to her. The nurse said it could help her wake up."

"Oh Pookie, please say she'll wake up. Please. I need to hear it. If I hear it I can make myself believe it."

Joanne knelt by Maureen's chair and took her shoulders.

"Maureen, listen to me. Mia is going to be fine. She'll get better and she'll learn and grow like any other kid."

Maureen wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"Okay. I believe you."

The two shared an emotional embrace.

Suddenly, a beeping noise sounded from one of the many monitors at Mia's bedside.

"Joanne! Nurse! Help! Please!" Maureen began to shout her loudest, shoving the chair away, tears cascading down her cheeks again.

Joanne hurried forward, trying to keep her emotions in check. She could not lose control. That was how it had been all her life. Lose control, and she felt like her world had collapsed. The moment she lost control, that was the moment she ceased to live.

Joanne and Maureen leant over their daughter, Maureen repeatedly pushing the call button over and over again. Joanne helplessly whispered to their daughter, machines beeping and whirring all around.

Both their eyes were blurred with tears. Suddenly, both saws a sparkle, a green emerald in a sea of cloudiness. They wiped away their tears, and saw a sight both thought was gone forever.

"Mommy?"

**Its pretty short, but I hope you like it. I tried to hint at Joanne and Maureen's pasts in there, so please tell me what you think.**

**Echo**

**x**


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